Off-grid living isn’t for sissies or anyone who doesn’t want to get their hands dirty. It is for you who are willing to invest in learning and implementing some simple steps. Follow them and you to can live off the grid.

What We Can Learn from Those Who Live Off the Grid

So you want to live off the grid?

Admit it, you have been thinking about it. Living off the grid.

Late at night, at the end of a long day, you have pictured your life off the grid.

Images of Little House on the Prairie come to mind.

Maybe you ponder becoming a long-bearded man living in the mountains, content to be a hermit.

Ok, that’s a little extreme for most. But, the part about living off the grid.

That keeps on burning in your thoughts and dreams.

Dreaming of Grid-lessness

There’s good news for you. You can do it. For sure.

First of all, you are not alone in your thoughts, as more people are choosing an off-grid lifestyle.

Some are able to escape the noisy concrete city and move to quiet acreage in the Midwest or another idyllic country setting.

However, for many, like me, work and family obligations make that impossible, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do our best to live off the grid as much possible.

Living off the grid is defined as being self-sufficient of municipal utilities, such as water, natural gas, electricity, sewer, and trash services.

Choosing to live an urban off-grid life is possible and does have many advantages.

Live Off the Grid – Advantages

One advantage is knowing that you and your family can be prepared and will be able to survive quite well when a disaster happens.

Furthermore, any have been able to save money on their utilities and purchases.

Others have found peace and confidence in their new learned skills along the path to grid-less-ness, but do not conjure up a romanticized version of happily churning your own butter and building an outhouse.

Off-grid living, whether urban, suburban, or rural, isn’t the easiest choice you’ll ever make!

Urbanites Live Off the Grid

The type of home in which you are living determines, in large part, the extent to which you can go grid-free.

If you are in a home with a yard, it is easier to become more self-sufficient.

Apartment life can accommodate a degree of off-grid living, probably in a smaller scale.

You are not alone in your thoughts, as more people are choosing this lifestyle.

Some are able to escape the noisy concrete city and move to quiet acreage in the Midwest or another idyllic country setting.

However, for many, like me, work and family obligations make that impossible, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do our best to live as off the grid as possible.

Going Off-Grid with Your Water and Food Supply

We need to use water for cooking, cleaning, and washing, we just need to be wise about our water usag What We Can Learn from Those Who Live Off the Grid 2

Whether your water comes from a well or the city, less is better.

Try some of these simple methods to reduce your dependence and cost of water:

Short showers, maybe shower at the gym. A 5-minute shower can save you up to 1,000 gallons per month.
Have a 5-gallon bucket in the shower to hold any water that is running while you find the right temperature for your shower. Use this water for plants or flushing the toilet.
Keep a clean dishpan in the kitchen sink. It will hold the running water you use when washing hands and rinsing veggies.
Use this water for your garden or washing dishes
Install water saving showerheads, faucets, and toilets
Use a rain barrel system to collect water for your garden

Begin to minimize your dependence on grocery stores by growing your own food as much as possible.

Start small with just 1 vegetable and 1 herb.

If the plants don’t seem to be thriving, try using more or less water, a fertilizer (consult a nursery), but be sure to make notes.

Overcoming Obstacles

Growing food to any large extent is extremely difficult and can take years to master.

Apartment balconies can hold pots for vegetables and you can build vertical growing systems.

In a home, you can plant in flowerbeds, pick a spot in your yard for a garden or add containers for additional space.

Learn how to vertical garden and utilize the fence and exterior walls of your home. If you do not have the space to garden, consider community gardens.

They are a low-cost option and give you an opportunity to know your neighbors.

Another option is to arrange with a neighbor that, in exchange for the use of their backyard for your garden, you’ll give them a percentage of the harvest.

You can cover the cost of water, fertilizer, seeds, mulch, and the like.

Choosing to become more self-sufficient and rely less on the grid can be an overwhelming thought.

It is a lifestyle choice, a commitment to use less, save money and prepare.

Take this suggestion and implement them into your life one by one.

You will find more money in your budget to stock up on food and other emergency supplies for your family as you implement urban living off-grid.

Maybe this will increase your savings so you can get that acreage in your favorite rural countryside.

*Ready to live off the grid? Check with city and county codes before going partial or completely off grid.